The Asiatic Society

The Asiatic Society
Emblem of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata
Old building
The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, old building
Established15 January 1784; 240 years ago (1784-01-15)
Location1 Park Street
Kolkata – 700016
West Bengal, India
TypeLibrary
FounderSir William Jones
PresidentSwapan Kumar Pramanick[1]
Public transit accessPark Street
Websiteasiaticsocietykolkata.org

The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist William Jones on 15 January 1784 in a meeting presided over by Justice Robert Chambers in Calcutta, the then-capital of the Presidency of Fort William.

At the time of its foundation, this Society was named as "Asiatick Society". In 1825, the society was renamed as "The Asiatic Society". In 1832 the name was changed to "The Asiatic Society of Bengal" and again in 1936 it was renamed as "The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal". Finally, on 1 July 1951, the name of the society was changed to its present one. The Society is housed in a building at Park Street in Kolkata (Calcutta). The Society moved into this building during 1808. In 1823, the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta was formed and all the meetings of this society were held in the Asiatic Society.

  1. ^ "Council | Asiatic Society". www.asiaticsocietykolkata.org. The Asiatic Society. Retrieved 15 October 2021.